Friday, January 02, 2004
Well I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, and I wish you the best in 2004. With the exception of the “disaster in the desert” that occurred at Sun Devil Stadium last Sunday, I had a pretty good holiday season.
My wife has been tending to two feral kittens living in our neighborhood, and is trying to find a home for them. If anybody would like two cute kittens, please let me know.
I encourage all of my beer-drinking friends to attend this year's "Strong Ale Fest" on Saturday January 10th at Scottsdale Stadium from 1-6PM. I plan to attend for the third straight year, as this is truly a great event.
Enough drivel. As is typical, I’ve wading through a glut of new music, and the player is loaded with six selections, all very new to me.
Here’s what’s currently loaded in my CD player:
1) Dave Matthews – Some Devil
Matthews is flying solo this time around, and the result is much more stark and somber than anything he’s recorded with his band. The album seemed to veer all over the map, including a bloated foray into orchestral arrangement (“Too High”) and two versions of the bitter anti-war statement “Gravedigger”. While I find a lot of this stuff haunting, many would consider it depressing.
2) Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
My friend Rich recommended these guys, describing them as reminiscent of 80's bands like Joy Division/New Order and the like. Though I never listened much to those bands, I do hear a lot of Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen at first listen. Thanks for the tip.
3) Los Lonely Boys – Los Lonely Boys
I downloaded this album (shhh…don’t ask, don’t tell) after reading a review of their performance at Farm Aid. Their sound lies somewhere between their obvious influences, Carlos Santana and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Though not my favorite style of music, this trio of Texas brothers plays very well. Now if I could only understand the 50% of the lyrics that are sung in Spanish….
4) Busted Hearts – Busted Hearts
I picked up this CD by the local bluegrass band at a recent show at the Rhythm Room. I’ve been a fan of bandleader and banjo player/vocalist Bruce Connole (formerly of Billy Clone, The Jetzons, The Strand, The Suicide Kings, The Revenants, and the Pearl Chuckers) for many years. In typical fashion, his songs explore the darker side of life, much like his idol Dr. Ralph Stanley. I encourage all of you to get out and support local music.
5) The Wandering Eyes – Songs Of Forbidden Love
My friend Lowell hooked me up with this disc by a collection of Texas alt-country types (Dale Watson and Kelly Willis among them), and it hasn’t left my CD player since. Like many old-time country songs, each song here is about cheating, as indicated by titles such as “Me And Mr. Jones” and “The Devil In Mrs. Jones”. Though the album was recorded in 1998, it sounds more like 1963 or thereabouts. Even my wife likes this one.
6) John Mayer – Heavier Things
John Mayer beefed up the melodies a bit with more synthesizer and electronics on this follow-up to his 2001 breakthrough “Room For Squares”. Though a bit more sophisticated, the approach is pretty much unchanged, however, and I think these breezy songs serve best as background music.
TURNTABLE CORNER: Believe it or not, I still have a turntable. These are the most recent albums to cross it.
King Crimson – Beat
For some reason, I had the song “Elephant Talk”, from King Crimson’s 1981 album “Discipline” running through my head. I flipped through my LPs trying to find that one, but couldn’t. I did come across this 1982 album however, which I think actually belongs to a neighbor I had in college. Sounds great, regardless of who actually owns it.
Thanks to all of you that have e-mailed using the link at the top of this page. Keep the e-mails coming, as it makes me feel like this is somewhat less of a waste of time.
As you were.
My wife has been tending to two feral kittens living in our neighborhood, and is trying to find a home for them. If anybody would like two cute kittens, please let me know.
I encourage all of my beer-drinking friends to attend this year's "Strong Ale Fest" on Saturday January 10th at Scottsdale Stadium from 1-6PM. I plan to attend for the third straight year, as this is truly a great event.
Enough drivel. As is typical, I’ve wading through a glut of new music, and the player is loaded with six selections, all very new to me.
Here’s what’s currently loaded in my CD player:
1) Dave Matthews – Some Devil
Matthews is flying solo this time around, and the result is much more stark and somber than anything he’s recorded with his band. The album seemed to veer all over the map, including a bloated foray into orchestral arrangement (“Too High”) and two versions of the bitter anti-war statement “Gravedigger”. While I find a lot of this stuff haunting, many would consider it depressing.
2) Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
My friend Rich recommended these guys, describing them as reminiscent of 80's bands like Joy Division/New Order and the like. Though I never listened much to those bands, I do hear a lot of Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen at first listen. Thanks for the tip.
3) Los Lonely Boys – Los Lonely Boys
I downloaded this album (shhh…don’t ask, don’t tell) after reading a review of their performance at Farm Aid. Their sound lies somewhere between their obvious influences, Carlos Santana and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Though not my favorite style of music, this trio of Texas brothers plays very well. Now if I could only understand the 50% of the lyrics that are sung in Spanish….
4) Busted Hearts – Busted Hearts
I picked up this CD by the local bluegrass band at a recent show at the Rhythm Room. I’ve been a fan of bandleader and banjo player/vocalist Bruce Connole (formerly of Billy Clone, The Jetzons, The Strand, The Suicide Kings, The Revenants, and the Pearl Chuckers) for many years. In typical fashion, his songs explore the darker side of life, much like his idol Dr. Ralph Stanley. I encourage all of you to get out and support local music.
5) The Wandering Eyes – Songs Of Forbidden Love
My friend Lowell hooked me up with this disc by a collection of Texas alt-country types (Dale Watson and Kelly Willis among them), and it hasn’t left my CD player since. Like many old-time country songs, each song here is about cheating, as indicated by titles such as “Me And Mr. Jones” and “The Devil In Mrs. Jones”. Though the album was recorded in 1998, it sounds more like 1963 or thereabouts. Even my wife likes this one.
6) John Mayer – Heavier Things
John Mayer beefed up the melodies a bit with more synthesizer and electronics on this follow-up to his 2001 breakthrough “Room For Squares”. Though a bit more sophisticated, the approach is pretty much unchanged, however, and I think these breezy songs serve best as background music.
TURNTABLE CORNER: Believe it or not, I still have a turntable. These are the most recent albums to cross it.
King Crimson – Beat
For some reason, I had the song “Elephant Talk”, from King Crimson’s 1981 album “Discipline” running through my head. I flipped through my LPs trying to find that one, but couldn’t. I did come across this 1982 album however, which I think actually belongs to a neighbor I had in college. Sounds great, regardless of who actually owns it.
Thanks to all of you that have e-mailed using the link at the top of this page. Keep the e-mails coming, as it makes me feel like this is somewhat less of a waste of time.
As you were.
